Sleep

"I'm soooo tired!"  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hear that phrase repeated over and over again - especially over the past week and a half.  It seems that the time change and losing an hour of sleep was throwing everyone for a loop and then the wacky bell schedules to accommodate for the testing this week has many students feeling a little off.   I know that it can be challenging to juggle your time, but you have control over your sleep choices.

The biggest suggestion I have for you is to go to sleep earlier!

I realize this isn't always easy with the time commitments you have with other activities, but ultimately it comes down to making choices that prioritize taking care of YOU.  Make the most of down time that you have during the day - 30 minutes after you finish eating your lunch, 10 minutes at the end of a class, 30 minutes when you're checking twitter, instagram and snapchat  - it all adds up and you can use that time to get more of your school work completed so that you don't have as much left waiting for you to complete at night.

If your sleep pattern has flipped (meaning that you struggle to stay awake during the school day and then are up all night long) then it is important to try to flip it back.  You can do this by working to try to stay awake during the day.  If you tend to fall asleep in your classes, talk to your teacher to find out if he/ she would allow you to stand up in the back of the room during class, try to focus on details related to your classroom notes so that you are focused and engaged on the material being covered, and consider chewing gum or drinking water.  None of these are huge ideas, but often times the little adjustments can help make a big difference.

Here are a few articles related to the importance of sleep:

5 iPhone apps that will help you sleep tonight

Lack of sleep can tremendously affect how our brains deal with emotions

How to cope with common sleep problems